Lando Norris did not miss the opportunity to provoke Mercedes, after the position swap between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell at the Dutch Formula 1 GP. The McLaren driver reacted ironically to the moment when the team ordered Russell to let his teammate pass.
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The situation happened in the final laps of the race, when Antonelli received soft tires to try to catch Norris. The Italian found Russell ahead of him, and after some radio discussions, the Briton obeyed Mercedes’ order and made way for the championship leader.
Norris watched the scene during the traditional post-race rest room. Watching Antonelli’s overtake on Russell again, the Dutch GP winner did not hide his sarcastic tone and commented: “What a move!”
The episode gained even more prominence because Norris won by more than ten seconds, confirming the strength of the MCL40 after the victory at the Hungarian GP. Despite McLaren’s progress, the Briton still has a considerable gap to Antonelli in the championship standings.
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The provocation against Mercedes was not Norris’s first last weekend. After securing pole position, the British driver joked about his chances of making up ground in the title fight, citing mistakes made by McLaren itself at the end of last season. Among the examples mentioned were the double disqualification in Las Vegas and the missed opportunity to perform a free pit stop in Qatar.
Even with the good moment of the British team, Norris remains cautious about his possibilities, and prefers to focus on extracting the maximum from the car each weekend, while McLaren continues working to reduce its limitations and try to close the gap to Antonelli.
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